With the recent debate over Measure T and city spending,
Hollister’s salaries have become a hot topic, but city compensation
is well below that of neighboring agencies.
With the recent debate over Measure T and city spending, Hollister’s salaries have become a hot topic, but city compensation is well below that of neighboring agencies.
Hollister’s highest-paid employee, City Manager Clint Quilter, makes $125,460 per year, well under County Administrative Officer Susan Thompson’s salary of $150,952, and a little more than half Gilroy City Administrator Jay Baksa’s pay of $209,756.
“I’d be shocked if there were anybody in the area much lower than us,” Quilter said.
Overall, there are 10 Hollister employees making more than $100,000 – or around 8 percent of the total staff. In Gilroy, on the other hand, there are 81 employees making six-figure salaries, making up nearly 19 percent of the full staff.
The salaries were provided to the Free Lance after the California Supreme Court ruled that under the state’s public records law, governments must reveal what they are paying employees.
Prior to the ruling, Hollister was willing to provide the names of “executive managers” – namely, department heads and police captains – and their salaries, as well as the salaries of other employees with their names redacted, Quilter said. The city had not provided the names of all employees matched with their salaries.
“Nobody’d ever asked us for that,” he said.
The Free Lance had earlier requested information about overtime pay in the city’s Fire Department. In that list, the names were also blacked out, Quilter said.
“Obviously, if someone asked for that now, we wouldn’t do that,” he said.
The salary list provided by Administrative Services Director Robert Galvan included annual base salaries budgeted for fiscal year 2007-08. It did not include overtime, but the Free Lance plans to publish overtime payments for Hollister and San Benito County next week.
City salaries have been of particular interest to some Hollister residents as Nov. 6 approaches. That’s when local voters will weigh-in on Measure T, which would increase the city’s sales tax from 7.25 percent to 8.25 percent. Hollister resident Marty Richman, who opposes the initiative, has said he’s worried much of the additional revenue would go toward employee pay and benefits.
“Good help is hard to find, but I’m not quite sure we have the best help in the world,” Richman said.
City workers, including management, have not received any pay increases for three years due to the city’s financial difficulties, Quilter said. When he was promoted to city manager in May 2004, his contract allowed him to receive only 5 percent more than the highest department head.
“In tough times, it was hard to justify more than that,” he said.
The average salary of a Hollister employee is around $64,841. Among San Benito County residents, the average income is $30,442, according to the California Employment Development Department.
But the disparity between Hollister and other agencies held true for other top positions. Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller makes $118,200, compared with the Gilroy police chief’s $170,534 salary and San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill’s $139,475 annual pay. Interim Fire Chief Fred Cheshire makes $104,310 per year, compared with $162,407 for Gilroy’s fire chief.
City Councilman Doug Emerson said administrators will probably resume contract negotiations with the unions for the general staff, police officers and firefighters shortly after the Nov. 6 election. Those discussions, he said, will be a balancing act.
“There has to be a good balance between representing voters and recognizing our staff,” he said.
NAME POSITION SALARY
1. Clint Quilter City Manager $125,460
2. Stephanie Atigh City Attorney $124,800
3. Robert Galvan Administrative Services Director $118,200
3. Jeff Miller Chief of Police $118,200
5. Clay Lee Community Services Director $113,580
6. Bill Avera Development Services Director $110,430
7. Fred Cheshire Fire Chief $104,310
8. Bob Brooks Police Captain $102,816
8. Richard Vasquez Police Captain $102,816
8. Steve Wittry City Engineer $102,816
Source: City of Hollister
Note: Salaries are base pay for fiscal year 2007-2008. They do not include overtime.
